Gracious Gretchen

"Gretchen"

20x16 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I've been painting but was not satisfied with anything that I thought was post worthy.  How excited was I when I learned a winner of my donated pet portrait for my local SPCA's fundraising auction contacted me with an adorable furry family member to paint.  The winner is going to make this a present and asked if I could make it larger than the size she won for the auction.  We agreed the 20x16 was going to make a wonderful gift.  I decided to use a head shot from one photo and the body pose from another.  I smiled through out the whole painting process because who wouldn't love this adorable pooch!

Sunflowers for Hailee

"Sunflowers for Hailee"

16x20 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

(click on image for enlarged view)

The Beautiful Bride

I was contacted by a friend for a special request. We had met in High School which is located in Japan on a US Army base called Camp Zama.  We have not seen each other in over 40 years but reconnected thanks to Facebook and our alumni association.  His daughter was getting married in September and he asked if I could paint her favorite flower as a wedding gift from her parents.  I thought it was an amazing idea but then I felt the terrific pressure to make the painting as special as the sentiment behind the gift.  My friend and I worked out a few preferences but he left it primarily up to me.  It took about 3 weeks to bring it to a point to where I thought it was finished.  I hand inked a dedication to their daughter on the back of the canvas and shipped it off crossing my fingers.  My friend and his wife approved but we had to wait a couple more weeks until the wedding.  

A couple of days ago, he was kind enough to take the time in the hustle and bustle of reception and aftermath to snap a pic and then later send it to me saying that she "loved it."  I told him that the honor and pleasure was all mine for letting me be a part of such a special occasion in their family's life.  

Daisy

"Daisy"

20x16

oil on gallery wrapped canvas

This was a gift from his parents for a young man's  11th birthday celebration. When he unwrapped it, his mom reported the first thing he said about his precious companion is, "She got the ears right."  Daisy supposedly barked at this image probably because it is bigger than her compact self.  

For the Frida of it

Frida

12x9

oil on canvas paper

After doing several pet portraits I had the need to paint a humanoid.  I decided to whip out a quick study of one of my favorite artists Frida Kahlo. *phew* Now I feel better.  On to more pet portraits!

Daisy and Chase

Daisy & Chase

7x14 oil on canvas

(click on photo to enlarge)

This was another fun commission for a birthday surprise gift for my client's friend.  Daisy and Chase seem inseparable in the set of photos I was forwarded  so I wanted to convey that they were "best buds".

"Last Two"

10x10 inches

oil on panel

I've been working on  a couple of commissions but these last two tomatoes just called to me when they were sitting on the kitchen counter about to be sacrificed for my dinner salad.  They were yummy...

"Taro & Poi"

20x16

oil on canvas

I've had issues with my computer but am finally relieved to be able to start posting after acquiring a refurbished unit.  This was a fun commission .  The photos of Taro [the dog] and Poi [the cat] were varied so I ended up using a composite of two.  

Breadfruit for Isabella

"Breadfruit"

24x18

oil on stretched liinen

A special family I met while my daughter was in Polynesian dance commissioned me to paint something to honor a legend they had learned about last year. Their Polynesian dance group competed in a National Competition featuring the Tahitian legend of a Chief from Rai'atea.

According to the legend, Chief Rauta'ata and his wife had nothing to feed his four children but the red soil beneath their feet because of the famine that had swept their island. The family went to search for food but could only find some ferns in a cave. Rauta'ata despaired because he could no longer watch his family suffer. He told to wife to sleep in the cave and the next morning he would be gone but would be able to deliver them from all starvation.

The next morning, the wife woke under the dappled shade of a great tree that had grown overnight in front of the cave. The tree was laden heavy with ripe breadfruit that the family gratefully ate to satiate their hunger. Legend has it Rauta'ata transformed himself into the breadfruit...the trunk representing his body, the leaves and branches his arms and the breadfruit his head.

This family was so moved by the legend that they wanted a painting to honor the breadfruit. I suggested they use their daughter as a model instead of having the breadfruit in the piece. The daughter grabbed a Tupperware bowl sat after wrapping a pareo over her top and jeans and sat for a photo. Then also gave me a photo of her in a headdress from a recent performance. So this painting was a result of melding together photos of breadfruit, headdress, her pose and my imagination for the woven basket.

She's simply "Smush"

"Smush"

8x10

oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Smush is a special kitty with 'thumbs' on her front paws. The client wanted to make sure I captured that special feature of Smush's for her portrait.

Pretty Petunia

"Petunia"

8x8 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I've been fortunate to have been working on several commissions. Here is a kitty that I painted based a forwarded cell phone photo. The client wanted the square format but this slender kitty didn't fill the canvas so I surrounded her with blossoms of her namesake.

A wedding couple...a new beginning

Tiffany & Tyler

14x11 oil on canvas

This is the second commission for the client who had me paint his twins Christian and Hayden. This is for his oldest son who got married last summer. The client could only provide his camera phone pic of this lovely couple. I included a frame because he has commissioned the three paintings. When he received it he said, it was "beautiful beautiful work." *phew*

Frank and Animal Place

"Frank"

8x10 oil on canvas

Click HERE to bid

I wanted to start out my New Year with another contribution to one of my favorite charities, Animal Place. It is a beautiful sanctuary for farm animals. I've posted paintings of some of their lambs, sheep and roosters but Frank is my first pot bellied pig. He came to them in 2004. He was a victim of a neglect case in Southern California. A man started out with six pigs but in two years ended up with over 300 in less than an acre of land. Now Frank frolics in the beautiful hillsides of Gold Country's 600 acres of Animal Place Sanctuary along with his friends of cows, bulls, chickens, goats and sheep. All profits from this sale go directly to Animal Place to support their wonderful work.

Katie

Katie

6x6 oil on panel

I saw this young lady playing ping-pong with her father at a party the other night. I asked her mother if I could take a quick camera pic of her to paint later. She stopped for a few seconds and I snapped a few shots of this active 11 year old. I like how she didn't even bother to push back the few straggles of errant hair off her face before returning to her game of ping-pong.

Hayden and Christian

Hayden

6x6 oil on panel

Christian

6x6 oil on panel

I was fortunate enough to run into an old friend at a recent party. He and I got reacquainted and he saw my art work on my business cards and I saw his beautiful 2 year old twins. He then asked me to paint his twins for a Christmas gift for their mother. Yes, it was only two weeks away but I was willing to do this for a dear friend. This is Christian and Hayden. We were only able to meet two days before Christmas for the delivery so I wrapped his precious twins in a box for him. When he opened the box, he smiled, said "She's going to love them...I think I'm going to cry." That sentiment was his Christmas gift to me.

Waggles

Waggles

16x20 oil on canvas

Waggles is a 17 year old cat who is usually found laid out sunbathing on my neighbor's porch. I thought I would capture this moment and give this painting as a gift for my neighbor who has helped with things around the house.

'Tis better to give than receive...

"Ruby"

10x8 oil on canvas

especially during this season isn't it? This is Ruby, a beautiful pup from the Exeter Shelter of Rhode Island. I am donating this painting to have the folks at the shelter do what they will with it. Other shelters and rescues have auctioned the paintings, given them to volunteers or people who have donated funds to the shelter or to just brighten up their place. I wish everyone a very Happy Holiday and a healthful New Year.

A Son's gift

Roger Kellmann

1961-2009

20x16 oil on canvas

Last month I was contacted by the step-son of my fellow officer Roger who passed away in November of 2009. I had painted a small memorial piece back then. The son wanted to commission a piece for his mother (Roger's wife) as a gift during his surprise visit home during Thanksgiving. The son relayed that he grew up to love Roger as his own father. He was flying in from Germany where he was stationed serving in our Armed Forces. Since this was a spur of the moment trip, I only had two weeks to get the image and send proofs an changes back and forth to the son. In the end, I was honored to have been asked to be a part of a precious gift from such a loving and thoughtful man and Cindi is truly blessed to have the love of a special son. I told both Cindi and her son I wanted to capture Roger's twinkle in his eye. He always seemed to know something that amused him and he was a brilliant comet in our life. Hugs to all my friends and family during the holiday season and all through out the year.

Simple Pleasures

Happy Plane

6x6 oil on canvas

Silly Seal

6x6 oil on canvas

Before the fancy cars, all we needed to be happy was to bounce back and forth on little rides at our local parks when we were kids. We didn't need leather seats or cruise control, just our imagination to fly us up to the heavens or skip across the ways on the back of a sea creature. I found these adorable rides in a little park next to a beach on Lake Superior when I visited my friend a couple of months ago.

Angel Trumpet

Mendocino Angel Trumpets

16x20 oil on canvas

When I went to Mendocino with my kids this last summer, flowers were blooming everywhere around the quaint town of seaside Mendocino. I loved this tree of Angel Trumpets blooming near the entrance of one store. It took me a while to get the gumption to paint them because I put so much pressure on me to do their beauty justice. I think I'm almost there and now want to paint more.

Cooper's my comeback

Cooper

9x12 oil on panel

To blogging that is. It only took me an hour to post this portrait I made for a friend. He's her handsome Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Cooper. If my computer continues to cooperate, I will start posting again. Thanks for you patience.